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Why My First Startup Failed and My Second One Almost Did — The Top 3 Lessons I Learned as a Founder
I poured most of my twenties and my life savings into a company that ultimately failed.
In 2009, I founded my first startup, Eidia Lush, a hand-made shoe company that let customers design their own women’s couture shoes online. After spending 5 years of grind and sweat to build Eidia Lush, because of 3 foundational reasons, I eventually ran out of steam (and funds). We weren’t generating enough profit to stay afloat and I didn’t yet understand the VC ecosystem well enough to fundraise. We took down the site and closed our doors.
Although I was able to sell our patented process and some of the technology to a competitor for a small price, going out of business was ultimately a huge failure of mine — financially, professionally, and personally.
However, looking back I now see the vital role that failure played in my longer journey. When starting my second business, Gallardo Labs, I was able to apply countless past lessons learned and felt much more confident in my role as a founder. However, those same 3 major things fell through the cracks the second time around as well. Luckily I was able to catch them in time to continue on a path to success and eventually built my 3rd startup, Founders Who UX on more stable ground than ever.
